1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to thin film plastic bags of the type having hangers which hold the bag and its contents on a supporting rod, such as found in retail display rack, and relates more particularly to an improvement in such bags wherein the hanger portion thereof has an internalized hook which connects to the supporting rod within the area of the bag defined by its side top and bottom edges to more effectively display and utilize space in a retail environment for example. In a further development, the hanger portion includes a tab member which projects beyond a leading edge of the package and defines highly visible opposed surfaces for reception thereon of informational indicia.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Plastic film bags having hangers of plastic are known in the industry. These hangers usually include a hook which protrudes outwardly and upwardly from the plastic film portion of the bag, A typical example of this technology can be found in the plastic bag construction disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,662 issued to Montgomery on Jan. 1, 1974. In this patent, it is disclosed to provide a plastic bag wherein a hem at the mouth of the bag is provided for receiving a stiffener portion extending transversely within the bag. The stiffener portion may have a hook which extends outwardly from the bag at the top or leading edge thereof While such hooks have been an effective way of hanging bags onto hanging rods or the like, it should be understood that the use of such hooks cause the bag to undesirably occupy vertical space otherwise dedicated to the presentation of other or more like bags on the display. This reduction in size of the bag is desirable because it increases the amount of product which can be otherwise presented to a consumer at a given display. Furthermore, the heretofore use of the outwardly extending supporting hook causes an interruption in the perimeter in the bag which from a graphic standpoint is unpleasing to the eye. That is, often the top portion of the bag will carry graphics which will be cut off or drastically interrupted by the supporting hook. U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,622 further discloses in FIG. 6 an insert has a hole 47 provided in the stiffener. This hole serves in lieu of the hook, however, the use of a hole instead of a smoothly channeled receiving slot such as found in the insert of the present invention is undesirable because it causes the user additional time in aligning the opening with the rod and inserting it concentrically over it. Specifically, it requires time to place or remove a package from a display rod and also to place it at a desired location on a display rod relative to other packages or to remove it from the display rod. This is sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9ca shoppable packagexe2x80x9d.
It has also been known to use a cardboard header insert which has a internalized recessed hook formed within the stiffener connected transversely to the top end of the bag. However, such hook structures were only found in cardboard type stiffener headers which are prone to breaking off and did not present the load capability presently needed, for example, in the package of underwear or cotton stock apparel, and hanging same on a display hook. Furthermore, in order to establish the sufficient holding strength in the header even for the limited load involved, it was necessary to size the header insert to extend transversely almost entirely across the header. This presents a further problem in that the sides of the header needed to be notched out in order to effectively seal the side edges.
The invention resides in an improved package made from thin film plastic having a hanger part formed from plastic and which hanger part has an internally profiled hook which is dimensioned so as to receive a connecting or hanging rod within the perimeter of the package making the package more compact and uninterrupted.
That is, the invention resides in a package comprising: a bag part defined by a first wall and a second wall connected along side edges thereof to define an internal compartment therein; the first and second walls further defining a header portion ending in a leading edge of the package; the leading edge of the package has a cutout extending inwardly into the header portion toward the compartment; an insert part is located within the header portion and is secured against movement to the header portion and has an opening formed therein located generally coincidentally with the cutout in the header portion; and wherein the insert is made from a rigid plastic blank and the first and second walls are made of thin film plastic material and according to which at least one of the walls may be heat welded to the insert.
More specifically, the package comprises a bag part defined by a first wall and a second wall connected along side edges thereof to define an internal compartment therein; the first and second walls further defining a header portion ending in a leading edge of the package; the leading edge of the package has a cutout extending inwardly into the header portion toward the compartment; an insert part is located within the header portion and is secured against movement to the header portion and has an opening formed therein located generally coincidentally with the cutout in the header portion; the first and second walls may be opposed separate webs of sheet material or may be portions of a single web of sheet material folded back on itself and the leading edge of the package is the folded back portion of the single web; wherein the insert is made from a rigid plastic blank and the first and second walls are made of thin film plastic material and at least one of which walls may be heat welded to the insert.
The invention also resides in a method of forming a package comprising: providing a web of thin film plastic material; folding the web of the thin film plastic material transversely of its length to create a header portion; cutting an opening in the double back web of the thin material into the folding line thereof; inserting a plastic insert with an internally formed opening between the doubled back web pieces; and securing the insert against movement in the header portion.
In another embodiment of the invention, the hanger portion includes a tab member which projects beyond a leading edge of the package and defines highly visible opposed surfaces for reception thereon of informational indicia, sizing, for example. With this construction, packaged apparel in a plastic film bag with a sizing hanger will be consistent with the hanging of apparel without using a plastic film bag which has sizing information already on supporting hangers. Additionally, a customer can easily see the size of a garment whether viewing from in front of the package or from behind the package. Also, the customer can remove the product from either the front or the rear. A retailer can even place different sized garments on the same rack since the different sizes can readily be seen by a customer. Further, using this embodiment of the invention, a manufacturer need not print size information on an enclosing bag but can use plain bags since that information is already provided on the tabbed hanger portion. This is also beneficial in that costly steps of a printing press to print different sizes is no longer necessary.
Accordingly, it is a feature of the invention to provide an improved plastic bag with a hanger incorporated therein having a construction which provides a low cost and effective bag having a hanger which does not extend beyond the outline of the bag thereby providing the bag with a reduced effective height and uninterrupted face. Still a further feature of the invention is to provide an improved package made of plastic film or the like having an associated hanger made from plastic or the like which may be heat welded with the film thereby enabling the package to be compact and self-contained.
Still a further feature of the invention is to provide an improved package of the aforementioned type having an internalized hanger which provides a fixed and unvarying relationship between packages of like fabrication.
Still a further feature of the invention is to provide an improved method of assembling a hanger within a thin film package.
Still yet a further feature of the invention is to provide a package which provides high strength and allows the package to be printed on up to its leading edge.
Yet another feature of the invention is to provide a hanger portion which includes a tab member which projects beyond a leading edge of the package and defines highly visible opposed surfaces for reception thereon of informational indicia.
Other and further features, advantages, and benefits of the invention will become apparent in the following description taken in conjunction with the following drawings. It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory but are not to be restrictive of the invention. The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this invention, illustrate one of the embodiments of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention in general terms. Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the disclosure.